Texas investment group buys nearly vacant Mesa shopping center

A Texas investment group has tapped into the Arizona market by acquiring a 164,000-square-foot distressed shopping center in Mesa for about $4.52 million, according to Velocity Retail Group of Phoenix.

The Superstition Triangle, located on 12.75 acres at the northwest corner of Baseline and Greenfield roads, has been almost entirely vacant for three years. It was sold June 8 to 1944 South Greenfield Road LLC, a Delaware company owned by Texas-based 29 Northwest LLC, according to records at the Arizona Corporation Commission. Velocity represented the buyer.

WWW AHF Partners LLC, a subsidiary of Albuquerque-based American Home Furnishings, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2008, sold the property through its court-appointed receiver, Trident Pacific Real Estate Group Inc. The initial asking price was $5.72 million, according to Cassidy Turley BRE Commercial, which represented the seller.

Only about 5 percent of Superstition Triangle’s total available space is occupied. The sole tenant is Dos Gringos Mexican Cantina. The shopping center’s biggest yet toughest selling point is the 144,500-square-foot spot intended for a big-box retailer; the remaining space is geared toward smaller shops and a restaurant, Darren Pitts, executive vice president and co-leader of Velocity, told the Phoenix Business Journal.

“Once you get a building this size, it’s pretty limited to how you can use it,” he said.

The development was built in 2002 to accommodate a Kmart store, which ended up never occupying the space. It was renovated in 2006 for American Home, which became the anchor tenant for a few years until the company closed all of its Valley locations following its bankruptcy filing.

As for the future of Superstition Triangle, the new owners plan to bring in Garden Ridge, a Houston-based home decor retail chain, to fill the big-box space. The privately held retailer is slated to open before the end of the year, representing its first location west of Texas.

Pitts said the retailer has been waiting enter the Western U.S. for a few years, and Phoenix’s large employment base made Arizona a top pick.

The Superstition Triangle sale is one of the largest big-box building sales Phoenix has seen since the market boom in 2006, Pitts said.

“It’s good sign that our market has turned the corner and is headed in the right direction,” he said.

As for when the remaining space would be leased, or to whom, he said, “At this point, it’s probably undetermined.”